


Rule Number One

by inhystereks



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Beta Derek Hale, Childhood Friends, ESSS2017, Eternalsterek Secret Santa 2017, Fluff, Kid Derek Hale, Kid Fic, Kid Stiles Stilinski, Pre-Slash, Protective Stiles, Shy Derek, Shy Derek Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 03:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13205364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inhystereks/pseuds/inhystereks
Summary: Stiles would love Batman unil the day he died, but he definitely had more of a Captain America mindset when it came to bullies. His father had told him to be good, so he definitely knew it would be okay to step in if it meant keeping some other kid from being teased.





	Rule Number One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [impalajeep](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=impalajeep).



“Be good.”

It was what his dad always said before letting him go off on his own. Stiles really did try to adhere to that one simple rule, but sometimes his curiosity or his stubbornness or his mouth got the best of him. It had taken long enough to get his dad to let him go off on his own since Scott wasn’t there to slow him down. Not that Stiles thought Scott slowed him down, but he did have to modify some of his more reckless adventures when his asthmatic friend was by his side.

Stiles ran around, jumping up and down, zigging and zagging, caught up in his own world.

He would never know what made him stop and turn at the exact right moment. Whether it was instinct or fate or magic or luck, but stop and turn he did.

And he saw an older girl being mean to a younger boy. They were both older than him, but the boy was younger than her. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the girl had a cruel smirk on her face and the boy looked like he wanted to cry.

He moved a bit closer in time to hear the boy say, “Stop it, Laura.”

Oh, so this was a long time bully. Stiles knew about those. Jackson Whittemore had been the bane of his existence since kindergarten. And Stiles would love Batman until the day he died, but he definitely had more of a Captain America mindset when it came to bullies.

His father had told him to be good, so he knew it would definitely be okay to step in if it meant keeping some other kid from being teased.

“Hey!” he shouted, marching over. “Leave him alone.”

They both turned to stare at him in absolute surprise. After several moments, the girl scoffed. “Get out of here, pipsqueak. This has nothing to do with you.”

“It does now,” Stiles said, trying to sound firm like his dad did. “I don’t like bullies.”

Laura’s jaw dropped. “ _What?!_ I’m not a _bully_!”

Stiles gave her a frankly disbelieving look, which only seemed to aggravate her more.

“I’m not!” She gestured to the boy. “Ask him!”

Stiles looked at the boy, who did not say Laura was not a bully. Instead, he said, “She’s my sister.”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “Aren’t brothers and sisters supposed to be nice to each other?”

Laura and the boy snorted at that. “Clearly, you’re an only child,” she said.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. “So you were being mean,” he stated knowingly.

Laura’s jaw dropped, and the boy snickered a little.

“Look here, pipsqueak…” Laura started.

Stiles straightened, glaring up at her like he didn’t know she could beat him up if she really wanted to.

“Laura, dear, I hope you’re playing nicely with the other children,” a new voice interrupted.

They all looked over and Stiles knew immediately the woman was their mom. She looked like them, for one thing. Laura and the boy both moved closer to her almost automatically, for another. But mostly it was just something about her eyes. Something that said she would always take care of you and heaven help anyone who meant harm to one of her own.

“We’re not playing. This kid came out of nowhere while Derek and I were talking,” Laura said.

“Hm. I’m Talia Hale, little one,” the woman said.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hale. I’m Stiles.”

His parents had taught him manners, after all. Stiles just didn’t see fit to use them all the time. He had the feeling this woman deserved respect though.

“Well, Stiles, it’s a pleasure to meet you, too. I hope my children aren’t bothering you,” she said, with laughter in her eyes.

“Us?” Laura said incredulously. “He’s the one who…” She fell silent when Mrs. Hale gave her a look.

“I don’t think Laura likes me very much,” Stiles said. He wasn’t smug about it. Not at all.

He knew what an adult looked like when they were trying very hard not to be amused by him. They always thought outright laughing would encourage him. As if he needed encouragement to act the way he did. As if a lack of encouragement would make him stop.

“And what about Derek?” Talia asked.

Stiles looked over at the boy, correctly assuming he was Derek.

Derek shrugged, but also gave Stiles a small, shy smile, so Stiles figured Derek liked him just fine. He grinned and Derek’s smile grew.

“Ah, I see,” Talia said. “Well, maybe we should go find the Sheriff. You probably want to ask him if you and Derek can play together for a little while.”

It wasn’t strange to Stiles that Mrs. Hale knew who he was. A lot of people knew his dad, and knew him because they knew his dad. He was used to it.

“Sure,” he agreed easily. “I think he was over by the picnic tables.” He grabbed Derek’s hand and pulled him along as he started walking in the direction of where he last saw his father. To everyone’s surprise, Derek allowed himself to be pulled along by the younger boy. Talia smiled warmly, glancing at her scowling daughter to make sure she followed.

Her nostrils flared just slightly as she scented the Sheriff in a different direction from where Stiles was leading them.

“Stiles, sweetheart, I think I spot your father over there.”

-

Honestly, John thought, he shouldn’t even be surprised. He knew his son always managed to get into trouble somehow. So it really shouldn’t be at all unexpected when he sees Talia Hale herding Stiles over along with her two eldest.

“I thought I told you to be good,” John sighed once they were in earshot.

Stiles pouted indignantly at him, but before he could say anything, Derek cut in. 

“He was being good!” he said, looking up at John with a gaze too intense for a kid his age.

Stiles looked surprised for a moment before he grinned up at Derek. He swung their still joined hands back and forth. “Yeah, Dad,” he told John, “I was being good.”

John quirked a brow at Talia who looked like she was barely holding back laughter.

“Stiles saw Laura teasing Derek and decided to step in. He didn’t realize Laura is Derek’s sister, not just some older kid,” she said with a small smile.

“She doesn’t get to be mean just because she’s his sister,” Stiles said darkly. But he did give Talia a curious look, because none of them had told her that and she’d walked over after Stiles told Laura to leave Derek alone.

“I wasn’t being mean,” Laura snapped.

“Then why did he look so upset?” Stiles snapped back, grip on Derek’s hand tightening.

Derek tugged Stiles closer, and leaned down a bit to whisper, “It’s okay, Stiles.”

“Yeah, _Stiles_ ,” Laura sneered.

“Whatever, _Laura_ ,” Stiles sneered back with an eye roll so dramatic John felt a flash of terror for his teenage years.

“Dad, can I go play with Derek? Please, please, please?” Stiles asked, anger melting away into puppy eyes.

John looked at Derek, who immediately straightened and tried to look very serious and responsible. John pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t smile.

“I don’t mind as long as you keep being good,” John said.

“I will!” Stiles said excitedly. He turned to Derek, who turned to his mother with wide, pleading eyes. Talia’s gaze flickered to Laura and she sighed. “Derek, you know I like to have someone watching you,” she said.

“Uncle Peter can,” Derek said instantly.

“Uncle Peter gets distracted easily,” Talia said wryly.

“He’ll pay attention to Stiles,” Derek said with a certainty John didn’t understand.

Talia blinked, chuckled. “Yes, I suppose he would,” she said. “Alright, run along now.”

Stiles and Derek grinned at each other and took off. Derek led Stiles in Peter’s direction.

“Mom says you have to watch us while we play,” Derek said.

“Why would I want to watch two stupid kids?” Peter asked without looking up from his book.

“Who are you calling a stupid kid?” Stiles asked. “It’s not like you’re a grandpa or something. And I’m very smart.”

Peter slowly lowered his book and looked directly at Stiles.

“And who are you, _kid_?” Peter asked.

"Stiles Stilinski, _grandpa_ ,” Stiles said, chin tilted up stubbornly.

“Ah, the Sheriff’s son,” Peter drawled. He looked Stiles up and down. “Yeah, I’ll watch you two.”

“Wow, thanks so much for doing what an actual adult already told you to do,” Stiles said.

Peter raised a brow, but didn’t say anything, though Derek could tell he wanted to smile.

“C’mon,” Stiles said, tugging Derek over to some trees still within Peter’s line of sight. “I wanna see how high you can climb. You’re bigger than me.”

“I’m stronger than you, too,” Derek said without thinking.

“Only because you’re older,” Stiles said easily, “When I’m as old as you, I’ll be bigger and stronger too.”

Derek knew even if Stiles got as big as him, Stiles would never be as strong as him. But he nodded anyway, because Stiles didn’t know that and he didn’t want to lose a new friend.

“So why was Laura being mean to you?” Stiles asked as he tried to maneuver his way up to the lowest branch. 

“I don’t think she was trying to be mean,” Derek allowed. “She was just saying I need to talk to people more. Or I won’t make friends and I’ll be all alone forever and ever.”

“It still counts when someone hurts your feelings, even if they didn’t mean to,” Stiles said. “That’s what my mom said.” He looked down at Derek from the branch he’d managed to get on. Derek looked up at him, wondering why he smelled so sad all of a sudden. Before he could ask, Stiles shook his head. “You don’t like talking to people?”

“No,” Derek said. He jumped and hauled himself up into the tree with very little effort. Stiles looked at him with wide eyes. “Bigger than you, remember?” Derek shrugged. “I think I mostly don’t like talking to people because I’m not good at it.”

“You talk to me just fine,” Stiles said.

Derek looked at him. “You’re different,” he said slowly. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t get nervous with Stiles like he did with other people. Maybe it was because he smelled really nice. Maybe it was because he’d stood up to Laura for Derek without even knowing him. Maybe it was because when he promised his father he would be good, his heart stayed steady as a drum and his mom had taught him that meant someone was telling the truth. Derek shook his head and climbed higher. “But I’m not good with everyone else. That’s why I don’t have any friends.”

“I’ll be your friend,” Stiles said immediately. He stood on the branch and almost slipped, only escaping a fall because Derek caught the back of his shirt and held on until he could steady himself against the trunk. Stiles grinned up at him, and Derek tried not to freak out at the same time he was reminding himself that he needed to pay extra close attention because Stiles was human and didn’t heal like he did. Then he really registered Stiles’ offer.

“I don’t know how to be friends,” Derek said quietly. “I don’t think I’d be good at it.”

“That’s okay. I’m really, really, _really_ good at being friends,” Stiles said confidently. “I can teach you.”

Derek stared at him, uncertain. Stiles’ smile didn’t waver.

“If you let me teach you, you’ll be really good at being friends too,” he said. “I promise.”

Steady heart. He was telling the truth.

“Okay,” Derek said.

“Awesome!” Stiles shouted. While Derek was trying hard not to wince at the loud noise, Stiles climbed up onto the branch next to him. “Okay, rule number one. You have to tell me if I hurt your feelings, even if you think I didn’t mean it. And then I have to apologize.”

“Okay,” Derek nodded, “But you have to tell me if I hurt your feelings so I can apologize too.”

Stiles grinned at him. “I don’t think you have to worry. I can already tell you’re going to be really good at being friends in no time. Then we can be best friends!”

“Best friends,” Derek echoed, with a shy smile.

If it had been anyone else, he might not have believed it. But somehow he knew that he could trust Stiles, and they would be best friends even when they were all grown up.

“Race you back down!” Stiles said with a laugh.

Derek grinned and followed his new best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> To my giftee. Here's a kid fic for you. I hope it's suitably fluffy and that you like it! Apologies for taking forever to post it on ao3. Happy Holidays!


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